Soldiers of the Storm: Planes, Smugglers, and Not Much Else

Is it worth the watch?

If you have a soft spot for 1930s B-movies where the plot moves faster than the actual planes, maybe. If you need logic or, you know, actual character development, skip it. It's a quick, breezy watch that feels like it was filmed over a long weekend, which is sort of its charm.

The whole thing hinges on Brad Allerton, a pilot who decides that the best way to catch drug smugglers is to just pretend to be another pilot. It's the kind of logic only found in old movies. Nobody ever checks his ID, of course. Why would they?

The "Performance"

Regis Toomey is doing the heavy lifting here, trying to keep a straight face while flying planes and wooing Natalie. You can practically see the moment he realizes the script is falling apart, but he keeps going anyway. There’s a scene where he’s forced to fake a relationship with an entertainer named Sonia, and the jealousy from Natalie is played so broadly it almost feels like a parody.

Cinematic perspective: Exploring the visual vocabulary of Soldiers of the Storm (1933) through its definitive frames.

Also, the villain, Moran, is just so evil. He spends half the movie leaning against walls in a casino, looking bored, and the other half ordering people to be killed. It’s a very one-note performance, but it fits the weirdly stiff rhythm of the film.

Odd Observations

• The airport dedication scene lasts forever. I think they wanted to make sure we knew it was a big deal.
• The machine gun on the airplane? It’s used to push a car off a cliff. Talk about overkill.
• I’m still not sure how Adams, the politician, thought he could get away with his side hustle.
• The special effects are... well, they exist.

There is a weird vibe to this one that reminds me a bit of The Air Mail, mostly because it shares that same obsession with early aviation. It lacks the punch of Scandal Sheet, but it has enough weird moments to keep you watching if you’re already in a vintage mood.

By the time they get to the final chase, the movie has basically given up on explaining how anyone got anywhere. It just ends. The bad guys drive off a cliff, the hero gets the girl, and the credits roll before you can ask why the Border Patrol didn't just send more agents in the first place. ✈️

It’s not good, but it’s fun in that disjointed way that only these old studio productions can be. Don't overthink it.